Summer, Start Your Engine

CORPUS CHRISTI AREA

Reported by CAPT. JOEY FARRAH

Email Joey Farah at jfarah@gmail.com

LISTEN TO THE ARTICLE (3 Min, 03 Sec):

 

MAY AND JUNE signal the official start of Summertime Fishing! Weekends will be flooded with local and traveling fishermen, most hustling for live bait from local marinas and bait camps. This is the first time that live croaker are available. 

For the first few weeks trout limits will come easy.  After a month, trout within the new slot limit will be hard to find. When you find an area that produces a few fish, bump downwind 50-100 yds looking for similar structure, instead of picking up and moving long distances. 

I will be using lures all summer catching trout on topwaters and soft plastics at dawn, then when the winds pick up, drifting the shallow flats on the east side of Baffin Bay for shallow schools of redfish.

The Meadows and Nine Mile Hole are miles of flats waiting for you to drift. I like long casts with small topwaters when we have a stiff wind and not a lot of floating grass. Whitewater blow ups from furious redfish will stop drag and run you around the boat several times. Classic Summer Colors are the Red/white, Texas Croaker, and Mole’ in the DOA 3” CAL SHAD. I like a ¼ ounce jig head for long casts and burn it at a pretty fast retrieve.

Another of my favorite summertime redfish baits is the DOA 5.5” JERK SHAD, with a light 1/16 ounce jig head. This bait will cast far and skip and dart across the shallow flats without diving into the bottom. It also mimics a ballyhoo, baitfish, or needle fish and sends redfish in a charge behind it, striking it in a ball of exploding water. 

At dawns first light, we will be using soft plastics to bring to hand lots of slot to over slot trout from the edges of the ICW Canal, the Land Cut, and the large rock piles in Baffin Bay. Refrain from casting over the rocks, as most of the trout will be just beside them, chasing bait around the structure. 

Topwater baits are very useful in the mornings in May and June, during the first hour of the day. I always get more strikes on topwater with monofilament line, or braided line with a longer than 2’ leader. This gives a stretch to the line and creates a more natural flow of the topwater bait. 

Surf fishing will also heat up here along the southern Texas Coast. Snapper season will start in June and will be popular for smaller boats when the seas lay flat. Close oil platforms to Port Aransas, Packery Channel, and Port Mansfield will all offer good near shore snapper fishing. Fish the bottom with squid, shrimp, or live pin perch. Often, the largest snappers hold up current of the platform or suspended half way up. 

Follow all our hookups on Facebook and Instagram at Joey FARAH’S Backwater Fishing. 

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Fishing’s Favorite Months

PORT ARANSAS

Reported by CAPT. RICHARD THOMPSON

Email Richard Thompson at RandKCoastalOutfitters@gmail.com

Online: RandKCoastalOutfitters.com

LISTEN TO THE ARTICLE (2 Min, 52 Sec):

 

MAY AND JUNE are two of our favorite months.

Which leads us into summertime in the Fishing Capital of Texas!

Our coastal waters during this time of year, from Port Aransas to the Upper Laguna Madre, are some of the richest and plentiful feeding grounds for our fish species. If you listen carefully, you can almost hear the fish lickin’ their lips as they devour their favorite bait.  

Having two unique passes so close together, creating very strong tidal movement between Pakery Channel and Port Aransas Jetties, literally creates a fish highway for outstanding fishing in the water ways surrounding Mustang Island, where limits of redfish, black drum, and trout are commonplace. This is a great opportunity for those who enjoy kayak fishing and or walk-in wade fishing to take advantage of easy accessibility to fish these areas. 

With strong spring winds subsiding we will be able to start fishing areas like the jetties and occasionally the beachfront when the wind conditions allow the surf to get right. 

Being in the Coastal bend, the wind is typically always blowing, but May/June have more favorable days with calmer winds and give you the ability to fish more areas that will be holding fish. 

However, on the other hand, when the wind is prominently blowing from the southeast, we use this to our advantage which allows us to target isolated schools of trout and redfish on and off of the protected south shorelines. 

When the wind allows us to drift, the Mid Bay Humble Channel Flats produces limits of trout with some in the 5 lb range. We always enjoy catching and releasing these bigger trout. This conservative practice is allowing these larger 5-6 lb trout to continue to spawn, which is vital to replenish our bay systems.

This time of year will start the trend of the fish feeding early on shallower flats and dropping off the edges into the cooler water as the temperature rises into the afternoon hours. 

Typically Port Aransas, East Flats area produces solid trout along the edge of the drop offs, as the redfish are commonly found hanging around the shoreline and flats. In this area, soft plastics is a go-to lure for trout. This area is a protected shoreline this time of year for clearer water for sight cast at redfish, or if you prefer live bait, we recommend a popping cork with live shrimp. 

It’s that time to start watching for signs. Most fish are on the move, not staying in one area too long, but following the bait. Watch for bird action, slicks, nervous bait activity, and mud boils.

Adjacent to East Flats, you have Dagger Island with the same topography. Target the drop off edges for trout and flats for redfish and black drum. 

With the plethora of oyster reefs in Nueces Bay, fishing this area is another great option because the southerly wind pushes the bait into this bay system. This means the bait will be congregating around these reefs bringing in the trout and redfish close behind.  

We want to encourage you to check your tide tables and pay close attention to your major and minor feeding times. 

Come join us to kickoff this summertime fun in the sun in the Coastal bend! 

We will hook YOU up!

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